Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?
by Avenging Neko
Summary: Seras, also known as Little Red Riding Hood, is off to take a basket of goodies to her grandfather's house, when she is intercepted by a Wolf... (Cover Image by JuJu)
1. Chapter 1

**Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf?**

_Jubalii made the pretty cover image. :D Thank her for it! *nod*_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hellsing, Little Red Riding Hood, The Mitten, Three Little Kittens, or any of the characters used in this story. I'm just a wanna be college student trying to write a story for kicks. So don't sue, you won't get anything. :P

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"Seras! Seras wake up!" A hand shook the young girl's shoulder roughly, jarring her from her illicit nap in the hay bales tucked in the back of the barn. Yawning and stretching like the kitten all the farm hands refer to her as, the little six year old blinks up at the shadowed figure who'd found her. "Mmmwhut?"

Another yawn splits her face as she stands and shakes out her red cloak that she'd been using as a blanket - the cloak was actually a good five sizes too large, as it belonged to her grandmother originally, but her mother had sewn the excess fabric in easily undone stitches to let it out as she grew, making a child -sized emblem of love - rubbing her palms into her closed eyes to banish the gritty feeling under her lids.

An impatient sigh pulls the girl's attention back to the kitchen girl giving her an exasperated look – after all, she was already ten years old; clearly the older girl's time could be spent more productively than fetching her from her naps in the hay when she was supposed to be doing her chores – "Your mother wanted me to remind you that you're to deliver a basket of bread and fruit to your grandfather in the woods today before the sun sets." A rather expectant air rolls off the older girl as she gazes at the young mistress, an eyebrow arching after a moment of the two locked in a staring contest. "…Well?"

"Well what?" Seras asked amidst another yawn, scratching at her elbow where some hay had poked her.

"Well what are you waiting for?!" The kitchen girl explodes, waving her arms furiously, "you only have an hour left before sunset, you foolish girl! Go on, shoo, do your part like the rest of us, you lazy child!" Having finished shouting her piece, the older girl turns and storms off in a huff.

Blinking owlishly at the outburst, Seras' lower lip trembles for a split second before she draws in a deep breath and follows after the more volatile female – the basket left in the kitchen to keep warm – so that she could start on her way to grandfather's cabin.

Peering around the door frame rather cautiously, Seras is met with a deep throated chuckle from the cook, "Come in Kitten, and fetch your mittens." A smile tugs at the little girl's lips and she giggles at the jibe from the grandmotherly figure. Seras had made quite a reputation for herself with misplacing her things, so the adults had taken to calling things she needed for her chores her mittens.

Darting up to the table in a brilliant flash of red, Seras carefully retrieves the basket of goodies, and turns to give the white haired woman in the chair a one armed hug, "Thanks Cookie!"

"Remember to stick to the path, and don't talk to strangers!" The cook calls out to the blur racing out the door.

Humming cheerfully, Seras skips along the cobblestone road through the woods, not scared in the slightest of the wind whispering through the trees and the shifting shadows. Nothing could hurt her on the path; that's what the grown- ups always told her, so it had to be true. Twirling around to watch her cloak flutter, the child giggles and swings her arms even more outrageously as she bounces forward. Twilight was always her favorite time to explore when everyone else was too busy tucking things away for the night to notice her missing.

Skipping closer to the very edge of the path and crouching down to stare at a bunch of pretty posies, Seras' hand shoots out to grasp a palmfull of the blooms, only to shriek in surprise as a black tendril of … something swipes at her in return. Jerking back instinctively, she squeals as she loses her balance and lands on her rump, the basket falling to the border of the cobbles and the grass of the woods. The black thing stretches out even farther and snags the handle of the basket, pulling it into the underbrush with an inhuman swiftness.

"No! That's for grandfather! Give it back! …Please?" Staring solemnly at the spot where her basket once sat, her lower lip once more begins to tremble. Sniffling in an attempt to hold back her tears, Seras pulls her legs in to cross them under the skirt of her blue and white dress, and folds her cloak more securely around her shoulders as she gazes into the trees.

"Why, Little Red Riding Hood, what's the matter?" A masculine voice calls from the woods, an almost caring note tickling at her ears enticingly.

"I've lost my basket, it's for grandfather. Mother will be very angry with me." Seras replies, a wobble to her voice as she sniffles and scrubs at her eyes with the hem of her cloak.

"A basket you say? Does it happen to look like this?" The voice queries, her basket suddenly appearing to float in mid air above the bush and between the gaps in the trees.

"Yes! That's it!" Seras cries, jumping to her feet and starting towards the edge of the path before halting and clenching her hands in her skirts as she stares at the basket, a strange expression on her little face.

"What's the matter, Little Red Riding Hood, won't you come get your basket?" The voice purrs, an unseen force jiggling the basket teasingly, and drawing it just the slightest bit backwards into the darkness of the wood.

"Mother told me to never leave the path." Seras replies seriously, a stray breeze ruffling at her cloak and pulling the hood back to reveal brilliant gold hair, cut short and spiking out adorably around her head, and large luminescent sky blue eyes.

"Your mother is a wise woman, Little Red Riding Hood, but you said she would be angry if you didn't deliver this basket of goodies to your grandfather. What would she be more concerned with, I wonder?" The voice muses, and a slight buzzing begins to build in the little girl's ears as she screws up her face in thought.

"I… I don't know." Seras replies, taking an uncertain step backwards, features pinched in concentration as she wracks her little child brain for the right answer.

'_Yes you do.'_ A traitorous voice whispers in her mind, and she cants her head to the side curiously, face going slightly blank while listening to the strange words. _'What your mother doesn't know can't hurt you. What's the harm of taking a few steps off the path to get the basket? Then you can deliver it to grandfather and no one will ever know.'_

Seras slowly nods, taking a half step forward, the voice in her head making her forget the black tendril that tried to grab her earlier.

"Yesss… Come Little Red Riding Hood, just another few feet." The voice in the woods encourages, sounding strangely similar to the one in her head. But the strangeness is whisked away by the inner voice, and her little feet take another few steps, leaving her with one foot in the grass and another on the path. Still, she hesitates, eyes flicking about in unease.

'_Kitten, don't you want to get your mitten?'_

Shivering, Seras' foot lifts and she stands fully in the grass for a split second before continuing up to the hedge line bordering the true depths of the wood, one little – and trembling – hand stretching out beseechingly towards the woven basket hovering just shy of her fingertips.

With another step she is flush to the prickly bush, stretching up on tip toe with wriggling fingers trying to catch a hold of the fickle treasure.

"Just a little further, Red Riding Hood, and you'll get your basket." The voice is alarmingly close – no it isn't, the voice is still a perfectly safe distance back, she should take one more step and fetch her lost mitten.

Swallowing and clenching her eyes shut, Seras breaks through the leaf barrier with a lunging step as she jumps for her basket, fingers just barely grasping the edge before a strange force jerks her a good three feet in the air and she shrieks.

"Little Red Riding Hood, you seem to have lost your way, tell me, tell me, would you like to play?" The voice growls as she stares into burning crimson orbs, basket looped once more over her arm as she dangles by her red cloak. "A game, a game, to pass the time. For if I win you'll be **mine**."

Two more sets of red, red eyes open and a jaw full of gleaming fangs parts wider and wider until it's easily big enough to swallow her whole.

Trembling, lips sucked in and bitten harshly into to stifle her urge to scream, Seras stares at the hellish wolf leering at her and proposing some sort of game. Inhaling sharply, and cringing at the hot metallic smell wafting out of the wolf's jaws, Seras' lower lip trembles once more as she tries to gather her courage to speak.

"Wh-…What if I win?"

The wolf's jaws click shut and his upper lip curls back in a show of fang as he wheezes in laughter, "Then, little Kitten, you'll have found your lost mitten, and you'll get your pie." The voice comes from somewhere behind the wolf's head, and she strains her little eyes to see in the unnatural dark between the trees.

"I… What kind of game?" Seras asked, voice quavering uncertainly.

"Hide and Seek."

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_**AN: **_Poor_ little Seras, what could I have in mind for her? *crack-a-THOOM!* Bwahahahaha... You'll just have to wait and see! See you in three days, lovies._


	2. Chapter 2

**Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf?**

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"So, Little Red Riding Hood, the rules to our game are simple. You may not leave the border of the woods at any point unless you survive to your grandfather's house." The wolf licked his chops threateningly at the word 'survive', and little Seras hunched her shoulders to make herself appear smaller.

"Is that it..?"

"Yes." The wolf's lip curled back in a show of fang once more, the ivory spears glinting dangerously, easily the length of her pinkie finger.

"What happens if I leave the woods?" The six year old questioned with a serious air about her, she always liked to understand the rules to any game before playing.

"Then you forfeit, and become **mine** by default." Laughter followed the voice, floating around the pair of creatures ominously.

"Do I get a head start?" Seras demanded, still dangling by her red cloak a good four feet above the forest floor.

The laughter stopped and a strange sound whispered in her ears, similar to the noise the horses harnesses made when pulling the cart to market, a sort of creaking and shuffling. The sound shifted, seeming to go in a circle around the pocket of shadow in which the pair (trio?) resided. Finally the voice spoke again, purring with a sadistic glee. "Of course you get a head start, this is Hide and Seek, after all. I have to count first."

"To one hundred!" Seras called, an edge to her little voice as she squirmed uncomfortably. "Using the word hippopotamus between each number." She added a bit smugly.

The voice chuckled at her audacity and the girl was lowered a foot closer to the ground, "Agreed." The wolf's disturbingly long tongue snaked out once more to lewdly lick his chops. "Any other conditions you wish to add, Little Red Riding Hood?"

"I… need to be able to see where I'm going." The little girl answered, raising her chin a bit in an attempt to appear brave.

The air moved, caressing her cheeks as something passed in front of her eyes, and she could just barely make out a shadow moving past her as her eyes started to adjust to their surroundings. "Done."

She was lowered yet another foot, and suddenly she could see the thick layer of mulch and tree roots protruding from their carpet of fallen leaves.

"Two boons I have granted, will you take the third now, I wonder?" The voice rumbled from behind, and she canted her head to one side, confused. Turning her head, she jumped as something – like a large hand – prevented her from looking over her shoulder. "No."

Glancing between the wolf and the corner of her eyes at the shadows behind her, Seras' mind raced with questions. "Who's going to be seeking me?" She asked finally, gazing at the strange six eyed wolf she assumed was the source of the voice until it prevented her from looking upon it – him, she thought, correcting herself absently.

She could practically hear the smirk in his words as the voice answered, "I will be seeking, Little Red Riding Hood, as the wolf." That confused her further, and she made a 'huh' sort of whine in her throat. A sigh blew cool air across her ear and she squirmed, wriggling her shoulders up to rub at the exposed skin. "The wolf is a part of me, so he shall play Seeker to our little game, Red Riding Hood. It wouldn't be very fair of me to play as I am now, I want a bit of a challenge after all." The wolf's jaws clicked together with a snap and she jumped a bit, startled. The force holding her again lowered her another foot, only one remained between her black shiny shoes and the ground.

"Anything else to say, Little Red Riding Hood, before we begin our game?"

"What's your name?" She was afraid, of him, of the wolf, but it was easily ignored for the sake of her curiosity. There was a reason everyone called her Kitten, after all, and not just because she forgot her 'mittens' everywhere.

"You, my little Kitten, may call me the Big Bad Wolf." Dark laughter sent shivers running down her spine as she was set down at last. Not even a full second later she was bolting past the beast and into the woods as the Wolf's voice began to count; **"One hippopotamus, two hippopotamus…"**

Little chest heaving, Seras clutches her basket protectively to her chest, gathering the folds of her cloak in tighter to her body to avoid it snagging as she leaps nimbly over the obstacles in her mad dash for freedom.

Reaching the edge of the close grown trees, Seras shivers as she feels exposed in the more open ground. Flicking her gaze about uneasily, she dares to glance at the sky to check which direction the sunlight was coming from. Just barely spotting the glow to her left she spins to the right and flies across the field grass, trampling dandelions and sending the cottonseed balls scattering.

"**Ten hippopotamus."**

Jumping forward a good foot, the little girl shrieks and turns around frantically, looking for a sign of the beast. "You're supposed to stay still when counting!" Seras cries, spinning in another circle and stumbling against a fallen log. **"Silly little Kitten, so long as you are in my woods, and I will it, my voice will reach you."** A phantom hand brushed the bangs from her eyes and she shuddered, jumping to her feet and bolting once more on her parallel route to the cobblestone path that would lead her to her grandfather's cabin.

"**Twenty hippopotamus."**

Seras was stumbling more and more as she gasped for breath, the stitch in her side burning ferociously. Movement flashed in the corner of her eye and she turned, startled to find a … giant mitten? What? A black bear was worming its way into the glove, stretching it beyond sanity's capacity, and next came a stag. A stag of all things! Drawn to the mitten like a loose thread being sewn back into place, she half stumbles along as if in a trance. Seras reaches the opening – which somehow closes neatly over each intruder to lay against the other half on the ground – and extends her tiny hand out to lift the cloth and peer inside, seeing only a strangely enticing darkness. Shivering, she lifts the fabric higher to make a child sized gap in the ever expanding mitten when the voice booms in her ears; **"Forty hippopotamus."**

"What?!" Shrieking in outrage, Seras abandons the mitten, feeling a strange emptiness in her heart, and sprints further east.

'_No, Seras, you may think you're running, but you're not. You're really scampering!'_

Ignoring the strange whisper, the child lifts the hood of her cloak higher over her head to prevent further distraction. As if to mock her efforts, a cloud of steam drifts into her face, coming from a window embedded in a tree. Once again her curiosity pulled her to the oddity, and she found herself slowing and even back tracking a few feet to clamber up onto the protruding roots and peek into the window. Blinking a few times to ensure her eyes aren't playing tricks on her, Seras cants her head to one side in puzzlement. The window shows a scene from a completely different set of cheerful looking woods at high noon, and a rather rambunctious tea party - of all things! - the source of the steam cloud. A strange man in a hat nearly as tall as himself takes a bite out of a tea plate after dunking it in his cup. How strange! Pressing her fingers forward through the gaps in the window bars, Seras blinks in bewilderment as the very air seems to resist her forward momentum and push her physically back towards the base of the tree.

"**Fifty five hippopotamus."**

Jerking her head from side to side to clear her thoughts, the girl hesitates a moment before resuming her run in what she's pretty sure is the right direction. Sorta. Kinda. Maybe. There's not enough of a gap in the canopy to check the sky for sure. After a moment a strange rumbling sound begins approaching, growing louder by the second, until a dust cloud looms threateningly in front of her. Squeaking in shock, Seras darts to the side, hoping to take cover in the trees as… giant… dust bunnies stampede towards her. Peering out from behind a wide trunked tree curiously, she stares at the puffy lint creatures in the shape of bunny rabbits; they reminded her of the stuffed animals seen in toy shops, except these are living dirt… or something. Curioser and curioser. Seras giggles as a small bunny bounces her way, veering drunkenly amongst the stampede. Reaching a hand out, she jerks back in shock as her hand passes through the baby as though it were a cloud.

It takes but a moment for the cause of the bunny rush to become apparent; scurrying in their wake were strange cat like creatures with far too many legs. Despite their enticing feline faces, Seras feels a little unnerved, and tries to climb up the tree next to her. Scramble, scrape, tug, pull…

It was working! She'd made it about three feet off the ground before the swarm hit. She shrieks as the crab like cats scuttle up the tree after her and drag her off it kicking and screaming. The strange cats carried her off, three of them pinning her to the backs of the others, her basket just out of reach and coming along for the ride. She tries her best, but the little girl just can't escape, and is dragged off back the way she'd come, in the opposite direction of grandfather's house.

"**Seventy five hippopotamus."**

The voice! Seras opens her mouth to cry for help when she stops to think. Maybe she could get out of this on her own still? The swarm entered a new clearing, and Seras wriggled anxiously to turn around, but the three pinning her down wouldn't let her. She manages to grab her basket as it slides closer, and holds it protectively as she's slowly turned around and faces the center of the glen where a massive web extended between the two lone trees. There, at the center of the web, was something very bizarre, she wasn't enough sure what to call it. An enormous cat face, about ten feet tall, and the body (if it had one) was hidden out of sight. The head meows (roars) and Seras's eyes widen and she struggles even harder as the minions swarm up the web. _I don't wan to be eaten..!_

Screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs, Seras feels herself slide down and down and down the fuzzy soft backs and into a wet heat. Darkness even blacker than her eyelids surrounds her and she screams louder.

"**Eighty hippopotamus."**

Just as she was about to call his name and hope that he would appear to save her, she heard a terrible, horrible, no good very bad sound. And then she was falling and she was caught by strong arms. Seras squeals in surprise and stares up and up and up into the icy blue eyes of the blonde Huntswoman. Sir Integra was well known in town for being a loner with a soft spot for children. Seras grins up at the woman in relief even as the scenery begins to blur a little sickeningly, the Huntswoman spinning in a circle and brandishing her blade one handed to fend off the many legged cats. The pair swiftly made their escape, Little Red Riding Hood still held securely to the elder blonde's side to keep her from being abducted a second time.

"What were you **doing** in the woods, Seras?" Sir Integra practically snarled as they reached a new and fortunately empty break in the trees. The six year old looked down at her feet in shame, "I lost my basket… to bring to grandfather. I **had **to get it!"

"By leaving the path?"

"Y-…yes."

"Well it's obvious you have your basket now. Come with me, I'll escort you there and home again myself, it's obvious you can't navigate this foul place." The words were harsh and cold, and she felt her lip tremble for a moment. But she knew the Huntswoman was worried for her, so she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, opening her mouth to explain why she was so deep in the trees when...

"**One hundred hippopotamus. Ready or not, here I come."**


	3. Chapter 3

**Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf?**

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"I should have known it was** him**." Sir Integra cursed blackly, seeming unsurprised by the disembodied voice. She spun in a circle, eyeing the clearing, then quickly swooped down on the child, placing her back on her hip, and ran.

"You know him?" Seras asked, eyes wide as her little arms – and her basket – wrap around the elder blonde's chest to anchor herself to the wiry form.

Rather than answer directly, she caught a glimpse of glacial blue irises staring at her from the corner of the Huntswoman's eyes. "What name did he give you?" She questioned smoothly, leaping over a fallen log as fluidly as a doe.

"The Big Bad Wolf."

Sir Integra barked out a laugh of amusement and she shook her head, a somewhat indulgent look on her face. "He would call himself that. In any case, Little Red Riding Hood, we must get you to your Grandfather's before he catches up."

"**Too late, Huntswoman." **That deep voice growled from their right and Seras shrieked as a great black shape lunged at them, her eyes squinting shut instinctively.

She heard Sir Integra grunt, and a sort of wooshing noise, followed by a sickening sort of wet thud and a yip of surprise. Something hot and sticky spattered across her face and she quickly buried her face into the side of the woman's tunic.

"That will only slow him down for a moment. If I get you to the path, can you find your way to your Grandfather's cabin?" Sir Integra's voice broke her terrified silence and Seras cautiously cracked an eye open.

"I… I think so."

"Good, we'll need to separate, then, Little Red Riding Hood. I'll keep him at bay as long as I can. Go, run!"

They stopped in a new clearing, and Seras saw the golden path not ten feet away. She ached to run through the bushes and onto the safety of the bricks, but something in her screamed a warning. _He said only if I got to Grandfather's…_ She gathered her skirts up in one hand, and clutched her basket firmly to her flat little chest, the six year old ran parallel to the path, into the darkening woods.

A horrible noise sounded from behind and tears gathered in her eyes at the brutal sounds. _I hope Sir Integra is all right..!_

There, she could finally see the warm glow of lights in Grandfather Walter's cabin! She was almost there! "Grandfather!" She shrieked as her little legs pumped furiously across the uneven forest floor. She was just about to break the trees when a root caught her foot and she went sprawling on her face.

"Owww…" She whimpered, bringing the edge of her cloak up to wipe at her stinging face, the red cloth coming away faintly sticky. She sniffled, and groped for her basket, but not finding it. "What?"

She turned, and there, a few feet behind her, was her basket seemingly floating in mid air. Lifting her gaze a bit further, she shrunk back as blue eyes met burning crimson. The Big Bad Wolf had her basket, and his right forepaw was being held off the ground.

"Look what I just caught." His voice crooned out clearly, despite the wolf's occupied mouth. "I just caught you, Little Red Riding Hood."

"B-…but I made it to Grandfather's!" Seras protested, slowly gathering her feet under her, the voluminous red cloak shielding her trembling form.

"Oh?" He crooned, and the wolf's eyes narrow on her, "Are you saying you won, little girl?"

"Yes?" Her voice trembled a bit, and the answer turned into a question without meaning to.

The wolf stalked closer and she inched back, blonde hair falling into her eyes. "But, Little Red Riding Hood, you're still in the woods." The Big Bad Wolf purred and she could feel something soft tickling against her arm. She pushed the bangs from her face, and yelped, jumping back further – closer to the cabin – away from the looming black wolf that had swatted her lightly with his tail.

Her little mind and heart raced as those eyes bore into her very soul, "But…" she whispers, remembering, "You said if I survive to grandfather's!" She continued, growing more confident, "You never said I had to be inside." Smugness oozed off the child, she was always a stickler for rules in games, looking for loopholes.

The Big Bad Wolf stopped, and stared at her for a moment before he tossed his head back in a bark of laughter, much like Sir Integra. The basket dropped from his open jaws and rolled closer to the child, and Seras was so very tempted to grab it and run those last few steps. _Why isn't Grandfather Walter checking on me?!_

As if on cue, the front door to the cabin swung open and brighter light filled the small clearing, Seras' blue eyes catch sight of matted fur around the wolf's muzzle and shoulder. The wolf growled and bared his knife sized fangs, and she flinched back further.

Eyes burning into her like fire, the wolf nudged the basket closer with his muzzle and turned to leave. "I concede defeat, Little Red Riding Hood. But you won't be so lucky next time." His jaws snapped shut threateningly before he melted into the darkness.

'Seras… Was that who I think it was?" Her grandfather's voice called, and she felt a sob bubbling in her throat as she grabbed the basket and ran into his arms.

"Oh dear one." He sighed above her head, warm arms engulfing her and lifting her into the air to bring her inside. "It's all right now."

He set her down at the table and gently tugged the basket from her arms, a warm cloth wiping at her scratched cheek, "Let's have a nice cup of tea and biscuits with tiger butter, hm? Your mother wouldn't want them to go to waste now."

Seras nodded, and a small tremulous smile curled her lips. Everything was normal now, in grandfather's cabin.

_And, really, even though it was scary, he never hurt me,_ The little girl thought of the wolf and their twisted game of tag. She was still scared of what would happen the next time they met, but that was the next time, and right now she was a little girl, safe from the things that go bump in the night.

"How many times have I told you not to leave the path, Little Red Riding Hood?" He asked as he handed the girl her buttered bread, a fondly exasperated smile on his face.

"I forget. But I won't do it again." She grinned up at him, and something inside her whispered that she was lying.

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_**AN:**_And all's well that ends well. Or is it? Bwahaha... *crack-a-THOOM!*  
Poor Huntswoman, what did the Big Bad Wolf do to you? And is this really the last we'll see of the wolf? Well, you'll just have to wait and see!

Trying to get all my other story-stories done so I can trick my muse into letting me finish WCHB before I do more sequels.


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